Chapter 30 Parker
Chapter Thirty
PARKER
When I rolled to a stop in front of Luna’s place, there was a big RV parked off to the side.
Fuck. Her parents. I mentally buckled up and climbed out of my truck.
When I knocked on the door and Luna answered, the stress on her face hurt me viscerally.
Her features were tight with her eyes pinched at the corners and her mouth a tense straight line.
“Hey.” Even her voice sounded strained.
My girl who liked to do tarot cards, who my dog adored, and who I’d been ignoring because I was a chickenshit, felt bruised. I wanted to chase her parents away.
We stared at each other for a long moment, and I sensed she didn’t know what to do with me showing up. I reached a hand out, catching one of hers. “Can you let me be here for you?”
Although this wasn’t the moment to have the conversation that needed to be had, the intimacy that flourished so easily between us flickered to life.
Luna’s eyes softened. She cleared her throat and nodded.
“Come in,” she said, swinging the door wide.
“These are my parents.” She gestured toward the couple seated at the kitchen table.
Luna shared her mom’s wild curls and her dad’s startlingly bright blue eyes.
The tension in her small kitchen was a physical presence. “Mom, Dad, this is Parker. He’s my –”
When I sensed her hesitation, I jumped in, “Her boyfriend.” I dipped my head in acknowledgment as I studied both of them.
Luna added, “This is Marie and Bill.”
Her dad stood from the table and held out his hand. I shook it, taking his measure as I did. His handshake was perfunctory. After he released my hand, he stepped closer to the windows.
Her mom smiled up at me. “I’m sure if you’re Jane’s boyfriend, you’re aware of our life. We were just chatting with Jane about—”
Luna cut in quickly, “Mom, he knows my name is Luna.” She clenched her jaw and swallowed. “For God’s sake, everyone here calls me Luna because that’s my actual name. Please don’t call me Jane. It’s ridiculous.”
Her mother looked legitimately sad for a moment. “I’m sorry, honey, old habits die hard and all that. We still do the RV thing,” her mom said, a hint of apology in her tone. “It’s a little complicated to get out of that because that’s how we make a living.”
While I appreciated her honesty about it, the pain radiating from Luna made me angry. Her dad was staying mostly quiet. “Oh, I’m sure that’s difficult,” I offered vaguely. “Luna has chosen not to do that, so I’m glad you respect her choice.”
“Oh, of course, we do!” Her mom rushed in. “But we were just hoping to do a little—”
When she paused, Luna interjected, looking at me as she rolled her eyes. “Content. Do whatever you need to do, but I don’t want any part of this.”
When I saw motion out of the corner of my eye and noticed her father holding his phone up, I shook my head sharply and crossed over. “Give me your fucking phone. He lifted it high, pulling it away. “This is mine. We have every right to record whatever we want.”
“Luna, do you want them recording in your house?” I asked, spinning toward her.
“No, absolutely not,” she said quickly.
“Okay, let’s go.” I reached for her hand, snapping my fingers for Fuzzy to follow.
Her mom hurried to follow us. I stopped by the door, glancing over my shoulder. “This is private property. You actually cannot record without Luna’s permission and you definitely cannot record or post this without permission. If you do, trust me, I’ll sue you.”
Luna’s father seemed to have realized this wasn’t a great plan and put his phone away. Just as we opened the door, her grandmother was walking onto the porch. “What’s going on?” she asked as her eyes bounced among us.
The distress on Luna’s face was so obvious that she didn’t have to say a word. Her grandmother glared at Luna’s parents before turning to smile at me. “You must be Parker.”
“Yes, ma’am.” I dipped my head. “Nice to meet you. We were just leaving. They want to make content, and Luna wants no part of it.”
Luna’s grandmother rested both hands on her hips, narrowing her eyes at Luna’s parents.
“You need to leave. I don’t care where you park your RV.
If you’re gonna pull this shit with her, you cannot be on my property.
You absolutely do not have my permission.
If you think I won’t file a cease and desist order and a restraining order to keep you off this property, think again. You do not have permission to do this.”
Luna’s mother burst into tears, while her father looked annoyed.
Meanwhile, her grandmother continued, “You stole half of her childhood, forcing her to be online all the time. Leave her alone now. I know you love her. You’re both better than this.
Why don’t you actually try to salvage your relationship with her instead of showing up and trying to ruin it all over again?
At some point, this is going to have to end.
” Her grandmother paused, shaking her head. “Do something else, please.”
When I glanced down at Luna, she was swiping tears off her cheeks. “Are you okay?” I asked under my breath.
Clearing her throat, she looked up at me and nodded. “I’m working on it.”
“We can still leave,” I said.
“I’d like that actually, but give me a minute. I need to say something to them.” She let my hand go and crossed over to her mother, stopping in front of her.
We were all gathered at the base of the steps in front of her small house.
“I love you, Mom.” She glanced over to her father.
“And, I love you, Dad. You have to accept I will not be a part of this. At all. No follow-up reunions on how I’m doing with strangers online.
I respect your choice if you want to keep doing this, do it, but find a way to do it that doesn’t involve me anymore.
It’s—” She blinked away her tears, and my heart twisted in my chest. “I can’t speak for both of you, but I think you’re tired of it.
Gram’s right. Find something else to do. ”
“We don’t have anywhere to go,” her mom said between sobs.
Luna looked toward her grandmother, who stepped closer. “You have made enough money to rent a place. Find another option. This isn’t her life.”
Marie was nodding while her shoulders shook with small sobs. Bill finally snapped out of his annoyance and stepped closer to his wife, curling his arm around her shoulders. “We’re gonna figure this out.”
Luna opened her mouth to say something, but her grandmother held a hand up.
“You can park on my property, not here, but over near my house. Only if you agree to stop this. No filming at all, no content.” She looked at Luna’s father.
“You used to be a handyman. You can do that here. I can’t employ both of you, but there are options for you in town.
Don’t use your daughter and guilt trip her into this. It’s not fair.”
Luna’s mother was nodding along. Her father was harder to read, and I sensed he was wrestling with his pride.
Her grandmother continued, “You’ll figure it out. For now, let’s move your RV over to park near my place. Are we clear on this? I don’t want to hear a peep from Luna that you’re pressuring her again.”
“You have my word,” her father said quietly.
Luna’s mom gave her a big hug, squeezing her hands as she stepped away. “I’m sorry. We’re just trying to figure this out.”
“I know you are,” Luna replied.
With her grandmother bossing them along, they climbed into the RV and drove it to park over near her place. After they were out of sight, her grandmother turned to face me. “I’ve been wanting to meet you, Parker. I appreciate you standing up for Luna. You be good to her.”
“I will. I promise.”
“I need to move along and make sure they do what I say.” She stopped in front of Luna, reaching for her hands. “Are you okay, hon?”
Luna’s tears had dried up. Her smile was a little sad and tired, but it was a smile. “I am. Thank you. You know I worry about them.”
“Of course you do. I do too. I think this whole thing spun out of control for them, and they’re gonna have to find their way out. I’m sure they’re tired, but they will find a different plan. Meanwhile, you let me handle them. You tell me if they try any of that shit.”
“You’re swearing a lot,” Luna teased.
“Well, that’s never been off-limits for me. Now, I love you.” She leaned over and scratched behind Fuzzy’s ears before she walked back down Luna’s driveway.
Luna looked up at me, uncertainty flickering in her gaze. “Are we still leaving?”
I didn’t know what to say, so I did the only thing I could think to do. I stepped closer to her and wrapped her in my arms. Dipping my head, I rested my chin on her shoulder.
“I fucked up and I’m sorry,” I murmured into her hair.
Her reply was muffled against my shoulder. “It’s okay.”
I loosened my hold. She lifted her head, looking up at me. “What happened?”
I took a shaky breath. “My mom showed up. What are the chances? All the stuff with her, the panic, the abandonment, feeling like I couldn’t get it right.
” I sighed. “I started seeing that therapist. Leo gave me her phone number. You can go to an appointment with me if you want, but I don’t have a good reason for being an asshole.
It wasn’t you. It was all me. I just panicked.
Delaney thinks I have old wounds around thinking I’m not worthy because my mom, who was supposed to be there for me, left me.
My dad went a long way to helping me repair that, but I still panicked, and I didn’t know how to talk about it.
I didn’t know how to tell you that I didn’t feel like I was worthy.
I love you. I didn’t mean to hurt you. I promise. ”
Luna held my gaze, not once looking away before she placed her palm in the center of my chest. Her touch was a balm to my unsettled heart. “That makes sense. I guess it’s better that this happened now so you could panic and I could deal with my parents, and we could both fuck up at the same time.”
I had no idea where Fuzzy had gone, but he suddenly reappeared, circling our legs tightly and then shimmying between us. Luna giggled when she looked down at him. “He’s kind of pushy about affection.”
“Absolutely.” I laughed. “He is. So, do you want me to go? I showed up today because I was going to try to explain and fix it.”
“There’s nothing more to fix. I’m not perfect, and neither are you. How are things with your mom? What’s going on?” she asked softly.
I took a slow breath. “Well, I’m not ready to try to build a relationship with her. Delaney helped me figure out that whatever I feel right now doesn’t have to be permanent. I might want to build a connection with her, but not now. That’s what I told my mom.”
Luna studied me, her gaze warm. “Of course. It’s messy, and it’ll probably stay that way. Nothing is ever final, not really.”
My chest loosened with the tension easing. “I’m sorry I was a coward.”
Luna shook her head. “You weren’t a coward, Parker. That’s a really painful situation, and you were trying to deal with it.”
“I feel like I let you down. There’s a part of me that worries I can’t be good enough for anyone. And, with you, it really matters. I love you.”
She stared up at me. “I love you too. I wish you had as much faith in yourself as I have in you.” She leaned up and pressed a kiss just below my collarbone. My heart lunged toward her touch.
“I was coming here today to make it right. Are you okay? I mean…” I thumbed over my shoulder in the general direction of where her parents’ RV was now parked.
She rolled her eyes. “I was really stressed out, but honestly, whenever they show up and try to create content and do all that shit, I get really stressed. They know I hate doing it, so they put me on the spot. It sucks.” Her lips curled a little at the corners. “Thanks for standing up for me.”
“Well, I know you can stand up for yourself, but I was kind of pissed. It was bullshit that your dad whipped his phone out like that.”
“That’s why they got so popular at first. They didn’t even try to edit stuff.
After a while, there was only so much to do that felt new.
They’re not as popular now, so they try to drag me into these reunion things.
They were trying to propose a reunion with this other family who has an RV channel. I hate it.”
“Your grandma has your back, I have your back, and they’re gonna have to figure out something else. They can do the RV thing, but not with you. I mean, if you change your mind…”
Luna laughed, leaning up to press another kiss below my collarbone. The brush of her lips was like fire flickering over my skin. Of course, my body had a mind of its own, and she smiled up at me when it became obvious that I was reacting to her presence. “Ignore it.”
“What if I don’t want to?” she teased, her voice the crack of a whip.